Board Gender Diversity and Innovation : The Role of Board Size and Firm Slack Resources

As women make their way into corporate boards, it becomes imperative to study the heterogeneity that ensues and its effect on organizational innovation, which is critical given the current socio-economic hardship across the world. While some studies have pioneered this research, findings are mixed. Such results indicate that there could be potential moderators. Furthermore, scholars call for a more complex configurational approach in the study of gender diversity. We draw on the upper echelons and configurational theories and propose to examine two crucial moderators — board size and firm slack resources, separately including a three-way interaction among board gender diversity, board size, and organizational slack resources to predict innovation. In doing so, we provide a more holistic and informative understanding of board gender diversity.